norma's cousin diane. or something like that.

I always want to love Pasta alla Norma, the classic eggplant, tomato, ricotta baked pasta combo. But every time I have it, it's too heavy, and the eggplant is oily, and the overall experience is a huge disappointment. But today at the farmers market, I saw beautiful, skinny japanese eggplants, and all I could think of was Norma! Instead of making the classic, I decided to make a lighter, fresher version, using fresh mozzarella (from Fiore di Nonno) in place of ricotta, a light, slightly spicy fresh tomato sauce, and freshly made rigatoni from DePasquale's in the North End. The end result was exactly what I wanted - nicely melted mozzarella, delicious sauce, and perfectly cooked eggplant.

Here's the recipe - call it what you will!

Serves 4

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Japanese eggplants, sliced into rounds
1 cherry bomb pepper
5 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 lb. fresh rigatoni
1/2 ball of fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch slices
basil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a 4 quart saute pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to coat bottom of pan. Once oil shimmers, add the garlic and hot pepper. Saute for one minute, until garlic is fragrant. Add eggplant, and season liberally with salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Add a handleful of basil leaves. Cover, and cook, stirring occassionally, for about 10 minutes.



In the meantime, bring the pasta water to a boil, and cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Add half of the tomato/eggplant sauce, and stir to coat. Pour into oven safe baking dish. Top with remaining sauce, mozzarella, salt and pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes, until cheese is melted and starting to bubble.

Serve topped with a chiffonade of basil.



Enjoy!

- e

ratatouille-ish

This dish was inspired by ratatouille, and I suppose, in a round about way, by Julia Child. She has been on the air lately, with the Julie/Julia movie release and all the related press. I have always sort of idolized her, watching reruns of the French Chef when I was a child. She was definitely the first "celebrity chef" I was aware of, and I found My Life in France a truly moving memoir. I cried the day that she died, and I think I cried when I finished reading the book. There is something truly inspiring about someone who has that "Aha!" moment, and runs with it.

So. I was at my Mom's house, with Julia Child on the brain. We had a lot of beautiful fresh vegetables from my grandfather, and local goat cheese from the grower's market, and I wanted to make a not-too-heavy side dish. So I sliced up a zucchini, and a yellow squash, some baby eggplants, and tomatoes. I arranged them on a platter, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, the crumbled goat cheese and a generous handful of chopped basil and baked the whole thing for about 20 minutes in a 325 degree oven. And it was delish! You could do this with a variety of veggies, but I liked this particular combo. Enjoy :)

- e

curried eggplant with tomatoes and basil

I received my April issue of Real Simple the other day, and in perusing various cleaning tips and new uses for old things (none of which I will ever use), I happened upon this recipe. AND, I had an eggplant in the fridge, an unused leftover from my Sunday tapas party (more on that later!) and decided that I would try it. I like curry. And chickpeas. And i really liked this. And it took all of about 30 minutes to make. So, perfect for a weeknight meal!

Curried eggplant with tomatoes and basil
from Real Simple, April 2009
serves 4

1 cup white basmati rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 pints cherry tomatoes (I used 1, and it was more than enough), halved
1 eggplant, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh basil

Cook rice according to package instructions.

Heat oil in a sauce or saute pan over medium high heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, eggplant, curry powder, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook until eggplant is tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and cook just until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in basil, and serve over rice. Enjoy!

- e